Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

Phase 1

Attack

The pure proteins phase gets the diet off to a lightning start. Once you are following it, you are in control of a mighty bulldozer that will crush all resistance in its path. So get on board!

What you are aiming for in Phase 1

Just one instruction to follow: you can eat as much as you want of the foods that are allowed

In the following pages, you will find a list of foods you are allowed to eat (see pages 44 and 45). They are yours, and you can eat as much of them as you want. As for other foods, forget about them for the time being.

Make sure you drink at least 1½ liters of water per day. By drinking this much, you will feel as if there is “something there,” and you will also feel full more quickly. You may need to go to the bathroom a lot because your kidneys, not being used to your drinking so much, are forced to open their valves and eliminate. Very soon, you’ll seem so much lighter, your face will be thinner and rings will slip off, since your fingers are no longer swollen!

Getting through the first three days

The Attack diet uses “the surprise effect”: your body will just have to get used to a new way of eating.

The first day on this Attack diet

This is a day of adjustment and combat. Of course the door is wide open to many categories of common and tasty foods, but it is closed to many others that you are used to eating. To get your diet started, try and choose a day when you can relax and are free to feed yourself as you want. The start of a weekend may be ideal, but you decide, depending on how your week is structured.

During these first three days, you will feel very restricted. To remedy this and stay on course, make sure you fill your fridge with the foods you are allowed. Then you can take full advantage of what this diet offers as, for the first time, you can eat “as much as you want” of foods as dense and prized as beef, veal, fish, and shellfish of every kind (including smoked salmon, canned tuna, seafood sticks [surimi], oysters, and shrimp), as well as scrambled eggs, the endless variety of fat-­free dairy products, and low-­fat sliced meats—­the choice is yours! So on the first day, eat more. Make up for what you cannot eat with the quantity of what you can have.

The second day

During these first two days you might feel a little tired and less inclined to any prolonged effort. Your body has been “taken by surprise” during the Attack phase, and it is burning up calories without counting or resisting, so this is not the right time to put it through an intense workout. During this period, avoid hard physical exercise and extreme sports.

From the third day onward

Your tiredness will go, and it is usually replaced by a sense of euphoria and dynamic energy that are further reinforced by the encouraging message on your scales. Your hunger also disappears. This surprising disappearance is due to ketone bodies being released, the most powerful natural appetite suppressants. It may also be caused by weariness in anyone who is not a great meat-­and-­fish eater—­monotony has a marked effect on appetite. After this third day, raging hunger and cravings for sweet things disappear.

Staying on Track

Did you know that the color blue is an appetite suppressant? Use blue plates, napkins, and place mats or use a blue light in the fridge to help curb late-­night raids.

A decisive weight loss

A real psychological turning point and surprise for your metabolism, this Attack phase should enable you to lose, quickly and effectively, as much weight as your body can lose during this short length of time. You will be surprised by it.

The rules for Phase 1

How long?

The Attack phase consists of pure proteins. How long this stage lasts will vary according to your age, how much weight you have to lose, and how many diets you have previously tried. Here are a few ideas to help you set your target clearly and stick to it.

Rebecca W.—­Lost 38 pounds

The first few all-­protein days are challenging. But after that, I swear, you will not be starving, the plan will not be hard to stick to, and best of all, I guarantee it will work!

To lose under 10 pounds

You are recommended to avoid an all-­too-­rapid start—­a single day may be enough. This first day, the opening day, has the advantage of providing a complete break with the past that takes your body by surprise, producing an astonishing weight loss that is enough to encourage you to get going with the diet.

To lose under 20 pounds

I would suggest you start with a three-­day Attack phase, which will allow you to proceed effortlessly to the alternating proteins (Cruise) phase.

To lose between 20 and 40 pounds

To lose this amount, the Attack phase should last five days. This is the length of time needed to allow the diet to provide the best results without your metabolism developing resistance or your growing weary of it. This is usually how long the Attack phase lasts.

To lose over 40 pounds

With major obesity, when a person wants to lose over 40 pounds, it is possible to carry on with the pure proteins phase for up to seven, and even ten, days. You may also opt for this time period (after talking to your doctor) if you have previously tried lots of diets, as your body is very likely to be stubbornly resistant. In this case, it is absolutely essential that you drink at least 1½ liters of water per day.

How do you keep on course?

• Read, and keep reading, your list of allowed foods very carefully, drawing up a shopping list for the ones you enjoy eating. Don’t just rely on this list, but follow the instructions that can be summed up in just a few words: lean meat, fish and shellfish, poultry, lean sliced cooked meats, eggs, tofu, fat-­free dairy products, and water.

• Eat as often as you want. The diet allows quantity, so make the most of this!

• Never skip a meal, as this would be a serious mistake. You will eat more at the next meal or, even worse, give in and eat foods you are not allowed. And your body will make you pay dearly for this extra restriction.

• Drink a lot, and drink every time you eat. To get rid of waste properly, you absolutely must drink at least 1½ liters of water per day. Water will also help you feel replete.

• Fill up your fridge! If you should happen to run out of proteins and feel hungry, you are going to binge on some food you are not allowed. Make sure that you shop regularly so you do not have to go without.

Staying on Track

Make sure you are eating meals at regular intervals to maintain stable blood-­sugar levels.

When will it be difficult?

The first three days may be a tricky time, since your body is going to have to get used to this new way of eating.

You will have to get the better of your hunger, which will fade away from the third day onward. And you are going to feel constipated, but the oat bran will soon sort this out.

You may also find that during the first three days you have an intense longing for sweet things. Hold firm—­three days is not the end of the world. If you manage to stay the course, your hunger, as well as compulsive cravings for sugar, will disappear as your diet evolves.

Courtney K.—­Lost 85 pounds

Just tell yourself when you are craving something that you can have it later. The diet is not forever!

Pure proteins

What are they?

Of all the foodstuffs we eat, only egg white is made up of virtually pure proteins. However, there are a certain number of foods that come close to the perfection we are seeking, which is why you will find the following proteins (all extremely rich in pure proteins) on the list of foods allowed during this first phase:

• beef (but not rib-­eye steak, rib of beef, or any cuts for stewing)

• veal

• poultry (except for duck and goose)

• fish

• shellfish

• eggs

•f at-­free dairy products

• vegetarian proteins: tofu, seitan

Slimming Secret #3—­ Chocolate

If you have a passion for chocolate, it’s because you love the richness and smoothness that defines cocoa. Yet it’s in cocoa’s powder where its stimulating effects are concentrated. Cocoa has antidepressant properties and contains phenylethylamine—­a feel good substance. Cocoa’s magnesium provides a soothing and tranquilizing effect. Theobromine and caffeine are compounds in cocoa responsible for its strong sensory and emotional charge. The rest of the cocoa is made up of cocoa butter and sugar—­this adds calories and saturated fat. When dieting, buy real low-­fat cocoa powder from a health food store and start adding it to yogurt, fat-­free milk, and your fat-­free cream cheese. Treat yourself and lose weight at the same time!

The law of all or nothing

How effective Phase 1 is will depend entirely on the foods selected. The diet will work with lightning speed provided you eat only from this category of foods. But be careful: if you do not follow this instruction to the letter, your diet will be slowed down, even blocked or ruined. So you must not allow yourself any extras whatsoever. To you a tiny square of chocolate after your grilled meat may appear harmless, but for your body it changes everything. As we have explained earlier, the principle of the diet is based on your body having to digest proteins and nothing else. If you introduce sugars or fats into your day, your protein fasting will be compromised.

Derek C.—­Lost 65 pounds

Add a little wheat bran if you get constipated—­and lots of water in the beginning.

It is impossible, therefore, to follow this diet halfheartedly. The Dukan Diet obeys the law of all or nothing. If you decide to follow it “a little,” its metabolic effectiveness will be put in jeopardy.

On the other hand, if you stick to this single instruction without deviation, your diet will drive your body to:

• burn up calories to digest the proteins;

• digest the protein foods more slowly;

• very quickly draw on its reserves without diminishing either your muscles or your bones;

• eliminate waste and get rid of cellulite;

• fight against edema and water retention; and

• reduce its appetite.

Take heart: this stage does not last very long, so hold on tight and keep going!

Staying on Track

Giving in and eating what you shouldn’t allows your body to regain the upper hand at the very moment when it was so close to giving up and relinquishing more pounds.

An ideal diet to tackle water retention

You can also use the pure proteins phase if at times in your life you feel that you are putting on a pound or two here and there. Two or three days of pure proteins can put your body back on track again. This comment is aimed in particular at those women who feel bloated at the end of their menstrual cycle and at women who, around the age of 50, start noticing their body change even though they are not eating any more than usual. How and why women put on weight happens to be more complex than it is for men and is often linked with water retention. A few days of pure proteins will mean you no longer feel bloated, and this phase in the diet is really good at dealing with the feeling of heavy legs and pudgy fingers, etc. In addition to the results displayed on your scales, you will rediscover your real shape, and your figure will be transformed.

After following your diet, you will be able to enjoy all the beneficial effects of Phase 1 throughout your life thanks to the Protein Thursdays that we will introduce in the Stabilization phase.

The 68 foods allowed in Attack

Always have on hand or in your fridge a wide selection from the food categories that are going to become your friends and your best-­loved foods. When you are out and about, take them with you, as most protein foods require some preparation and, unlike carbohydrates and fats, do not keep as well and cannot be found as easily as biscuits and chocolate in drawers and cupboards.

Before you eat a food, make sure that it appears on the list on pages 44 and 45. Never be without the foods you need for your diet. To be really sure of what you are doing, keep this list with you during the first week. It is simple and boils down to just a few words: lean meats and organ meats, fish and shellfish, poultry, sliced cooked meats, eggs, fat-­free dairy products, and drinks.

Lean meats

Beef

All cuts for roasting or grilling are allowed—­in particular, steaks, filet, sirloin, roast beef, and other lean cuts.

Ground beef

Uncooked ground beef can be prepared tartare-­ or carpaccio-­style, but without any oil. It can also be mixed with an egg, some herbs, and capers, shaped into meatballs and cooked in the oven.

Ground beef is allowed, but make sure that the fat content does not exceed 10 to 15 percent fat, which is too rich for the Attack period.

Veal

Veal cutlets and roast veal are recommended. Veal chops are allowed as long as all the surrounding fat is cut off.

Rabbit

A source of lean meat that can be eaten roasted or cooked with mustard and fat-­free sour cream or ricotta.

Organ meats

You can eat calf’s and lamb’s tongue as well as liver. Liver contains many vitamins, which are extremely useful during a weight-­loss diet. However, it does contain cholesterol, so if you have cholesterol problems, eat liver in moderation.

Fish

There is no restriction or limitation with this family of foods. All fish are allowed, whether they are lean or fatty, white or oily, fresh or frozen, canned in brine or water (not in oil), smoked or dried.

All fatty and oily fish

They are all allowed—­in particular, sardines, mackerel, tuna, and salmon.

Smoked fish

Although smoked salmon looks shiny and greasy, it is hardly any fattier than a 90 percent fat-­free steak. The same goes for smoked trout, eel, and haddock.

Canned fish

Very handy for quick meals or snacks, canned fish is allowed if it is in water or brine, like tuna and salmon, or mackerel without sauce.